Vehicle attachment.



' PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

H. F. COOK.- VEHICLE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13,1905.

Unrrnfn sra'rns PATENT OFFICE.

VEHICLE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed June 13,1905. Serial Np. 265,090.

To aLZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. Cook, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sag Harbor, county of Suffolk, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Attachments, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle attachments; and theobject of my in vention is to produce an attachment which may be readilyapplied to an ordinary wheeled vehicle, more particularly, however, toheavy vehiclessuch, for instance, as autotrucks and the like. In heavyvehicles of this class great shocks are ofttimes imparted to themechanisms by reason of the dropping of one or more of the wheels intodepressions in the road-bed. When this happens, the entire weight of theload is brought upon the axles at the point or points of springsuspension. This undesirable and serious strain both upon the axles andupon the rest of the vehicle is entirely obviated by the use of myimprovement, which consists in the use of a sixth or auxiliary wheel.This wheel is preferably positioned centrally of the vehiclebody incontact with or in proximity to the road-bed, so that when thevehicle-body sags by reason of the depression of one of thesupporting-wheels the auxiliary wheel will receive the whole or asubstantial portion of the load. In short, my invention consists of anauxiliary wheel arranged to come into action or to increase in actioncompared to the main supporting-wheels when an abnormal strain isapplied to the bearing-support of the body upon the main axle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a rear view of a vehicle,showing the application of my improved attachment. Fig. 2 is a side viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a modified form illustrating the manner ofconstructing the auxiliary wheel caster form. Fig. 4 represents amodification of my attachment.

The body of the vehicle is indicated at 1, to which is attached thesuspension-s rings 2 of ordinary construction, which are astened at 2 inthe usual manner to the axle 3. On this axle are j ournaled thesupporting-wheels 4. A wagon-spring 5 may be either rigidly or looselyconnected at one end in a suitable manner to the vehicle at 6, andloosely connected, but secured from displacement at the other end at 7in such a manner as to have a limited horizontal movement in order togive the requisite spring to the auxiliary wheel 8. The auxiliary wheel8 is mounted in forked support 9, the upper stem of the fork beingslidably mounted in tubular guide 9, which is connected by suitableclamping means to the spring 5. A compressionspring 10 is arranged insaid tubular guide 9, which bears down upon the upper stem of the forkedsupport 9 in order to insure constant engagement of the wheel with theground. Guiding-supports 1 1 are provided, having a bearing-block 12,through which the upper stem of the forked support 9 is slidablyarranged. These supports may be either rigidly or loosely con nected tothe axle 3by means of clamps 13. It will be seen from this arrangementthat when either of the side supporting-wheels are depressed the wholeweight or a substantial portion thereof will come directly upon and besupported by the auxiliary wheel.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of my improved auxiliary wheelconstructed in the general form of a caster. In this modified form, 14indicates a tubular guide in which'is slidably mounted the stem 15 ofthe fork 15, which holds the caster-wheel. A compressed spring 16 isprovided for the purpose of insuring constant contact of the wheel withthe ground. This spring is interposed between the flange 16 of thetubular guide 14 and the flange 17 of the fork 15 and surrounding thesaid tubular guide 14. The tubular guide 14 is provided with aguidingsupport 17, which may be either rigidly or loosely connected tothe main axle 3 of the vehicle by clamping means 13.

Referring now to Fig. 1, wherein is shown a modification of my improvedattachment, I have provided a pair of auxiliary wheels 8, mounted uponaxle 8. This axle is mounted in support 9, which is adapted to bemounted in bearing 9 in like manner to the forked support hereinbeforedescribed.

It is manifest that my improved auxiliary wheel or wheels may beattachedto the front or the rear end of a vehicle and may to ad- I vantage beapplied at both ends.

I would have it understood that I do not restrict myself to the specificmanner described here in which the auxiliary wheel is connected to thevehicle; but the same may be connected in any suitable manner and stillcome within the scope of my claims.

The advantages of providing an auxiliary wheel of the constructionherein set forth to heavy vehicles is apparent. In traversing roughroads where the vehicle is subjected to considerable strain it quitefrequently happens that a breakdown occurs by reason of the weight ofthe load being thrown upon the axle at the point of spring suspension.It is to overcome this liability that my auxiliary wheel has been desined. It is manifest that this auxiliary W eel may be either in constantcontact with the ground or may be located in proximity thereto andbrought into contact when any of the side supportingwheels aredepressed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of avehicle-body, supporting-wheels therefor and auxiliary wheels normallysustaining no portion of the weight of the vehicle-body but capable ofsustaining it -when one or more of the supporting-wheels leave thenormal plane of the surrounding surface of the road-bed.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of avehicle-body, supportingwheels therefor, springs connected to saidvehicle-body and auxiliary wheels normally inoperative but adapted tosustain the load of said vehicle-body when one or more of thesupporting-wheels are depressed by reason of leaving the normal plane ofsupport.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of avehicle-body, suspension springs, axles carrying supportingof support.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of avehicle-body, suspension springs supporting said body, axles havingsupporting-Wheels thereon, a wagonsprin connected to the body portion ofthe vehic e, a tubular guide connected to said spring having slidablyarranged thereon a support carrying an auxiliary wheel, a compressionspring interposed between said wagon-spring and said support saidauxiliary wheel being capable of sustaining the load of the vehicle whenone or more of the supporting-wheels leave the normal plane of support.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of avehicle-body, supporting-wheels therefor, and an auxiliary wheel soarranged as to normally not take any of the load but adapted to increasein action under the influence of an abnormal strain on saidvehicle-body, substantially as and for the purpose described.

HENRY F. COOK.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM P. HAMMOND, P. F. SMITH.

